Today wasn’t terrible. Not pretty, but the heavy rain and strong wind hasn’t taken hold yet. That will happen after sunset tonight as we get into the peak of the storm. Not much change in our forecast thinking, but we’ll break it down again in case you missed it earlier.
WIND
Wind will be the biggest concern for many, especially along the coast line. Winds will peak later this evening and overnight and GRADUALLY come down during the day tomorrow. By any other stretch we’d still call tomorrow a windy day but when comparing it to what’s happening tonight, it’s improvement. This is our forecast for the peak wind gusts later this evening and overnight into early Wednesday:
Of course that strong of wind will have many side effects. Most notably, the likelihood of power outages. I think we’ll see numerous power outages up and down the coastline.
Our High Wind Warning and Wind Advisory continues through tomorrow evening for the potential of damaging winds and power outages.
COASTAL FLOODING
Coastal flooding is another side effect of the wind but since we usually talk about it in its own category we’ll do that again. A persistent and gusty northeast wind will continue to batter the coastline which by the high tides tomorrow may pile up enough water to lead to some minor coastal flooding. We’ll be watching the windows of 3am-7am and 3pm-7pm for that.
Similar to coastal flooding, or the same family is of course splash over and rough surf. And rough surf is even an understatement. As the Nor’easter gets closer and backs into New England, waves could hit 15-20 feet tonight and tomorrow!
RAIN & FLOODING
Pockets of heavy rain will become more numerous later this evening and overnight. The amount of rain really won’t be overwhelming with an additional 1-2″ on the way between now (5pm) and when things taper down through the day on Wednesday.
We continue with our flood watch through tomorrow. The rainfall amounts are not overly impressive but the problem becomes clogged drains from downed leaves and twigs and likely more debris added with the winds picking up tonight. Just remember, if you do encounter a flooded road, turn around. You don’t know how deep that water might be. A stalled car in the rising waters isn’t worth it. And the fact that this is occurring overnight adds to the challenge as flood waters are much harder to see at night. So if you’re out on the road, drive with caution.
EXTENEDED FORECAST
Ok so moving forward there’s good news! Once we shake this Nor’easter we’ll clear out for a few days with added sunshine to close out the week. Soak up that little window on Friday as another round of rain and wind (though not looking like a Nor’easter nor nearly as bad as this one) on the way for Saturday.
